Pregnant woman in Sweden attacked over headscarf

FARSTA, Sweden, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Activists in Sweden are calling on women to wear headscarves in a show of support for a pregnant woman was beaten for wearing one in a Stockholm suburb.

The woman was hospitalized with a concussion after being attacked late Friday in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

"She was wearing a headscarf and she thinks her faith is the reason she was assaulted," Klas Jensgard of Stockholm's southern district police told TT.

In response to the attack, the organizers of the "hijab outcry" called on Justice Minister Beatrice Ask to take measures to "ensure that Swedish Muslim women are guaranteed the right to personal safety and religious freedom, without being subject to verbal and physical attacks."

"In addition, we demand that responsible politicians actively draw attention to and fight the structural discrimination that affects Muslim women. We believe that's reason enough in a country where the number of reported hate crimes against Muslims is on the rise -- and where women tie their headscarves extra tight so that it won't get ripped off -- for the prime minister and other politicians to take action to stop the march of fascism," the group wrote in an opinion piece published in the Aftonbladet.

The group asked women Monday to post pictures of themselves wearing headscarves to Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #hijabuppropet.

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